The Ebola crisis in West Africa is unrelenting, and journalists on the frontline of reporting on the virus are caught between authorities wanting to control how the outbreak is reported, and falling victim to the disease themselves.

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With the Ebola epidemic predicted to get worse, the Liberian government has taken action to silence news outlets critical of its handling of the health crisis which, according to Liberia's Information Ministry, has claimed more than 1,000 lives in the country since March. Publishers have been harassed and forced to cease printing, and journalists were initially not exempt from a curfew, making it difficult for them to work, according to the Press Union of Liberia (PUL).

Most governments, even repressive ones, at least give lip
service to supporting freedom of the press--especially on World
Press Freedom Day, May 3. But in Liberia this month, Othello Daniel Warrick,
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's chief security aide, shocked local
journalists by threatening them and calling them "terrorists" at a public event
to mark the occasion, according to news reports
and local media
groups.

The nearly 900 distinguished guests at the event also
pledged support for CPJ's Campaign Against Impunity during a special appeal
that raised more than $100,000. The John
S. and James L. Knight Foundation has generously pledged to match two-to-one
$100,000 of the funds.

The event, held at New York's Waldorf-Astoria, was hosted by
CPJ board member and PBS senior correspondent Gwen Ifill. The
ceremony paid tribute to the reporting
of Mauri König
(Gazeto do Pozo, Brazil), Mae Azango, (New
Narratives and FrontPage Africa, Liberia) as well as jailed journalists Dhondup
Wangchen (Filming for Tibet, imprisoned in China) and Azimjon
Askarov (Ferghana News, Kyrgyzstan), who were awarded in absentia. Alan Rusbridger,
editor of the Guardian, was awarded the Burton Benjamin Award for his lifetime
commitment to press freedom.

The battle for a free press sometimes feels like a war
between indignation and intimidation. Journalists learn of abuses of power,
crime, or corruption, and--indignant--they speak out. In response, the
perpetrators of those abuses--be they government officials or criminals--try to
intimidate the journalists into silence with threats, lawsuits, jail, or even
murder. Last night, the Committee to Protect Journalists paid
tribute to a handful of journalists for whom indignation is a driving
force, no matter the scale of intimidation.